


Vivid

by RedFez



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Falling In Love, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Hogwarts, M/M, you don't understand this is literally all fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-04
Updated: 2014-11-04
Packaged: 2018-02-24 01:19:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,410
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2562911
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RedFez/pseuds/RedFez
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><b>Vivid</b><br/>adjective: producing powerful feelings or strong, clear images in the mind.</p><p>  <i>Albus Severus Potter was vivid.</i></p>
            </blockquote>





	Vivid

**Author's Note:**

> This is a little (*laughs then cries*) Scorpius/Al oneshot I wrote this summer and kinda sorta forgot to ever upload. If memory serves me right, I wrote it in two days, never got it betad, and only gave it a short once over to make sure it made sense.
> 
> So any and all mistakes are completely and utterly my own and I sincerely apologize for them.
> 
> -x-  
> Lightly edited 08/08/2016 for spelling, grammar, and general flow of writing. If there are any more mistakes, please let me know. I am also slightly considering rewriting the entire thing at some point as, looking back at this, I'm dissatisfied with quite a bit of it. Note that it was NOT edited to be concurrent with the Cursed Child as I haven't read it nor do I plan to anytime soon.

In his first year, Scorpius Malfoy was taken aback by one of his fellow Slytherin classmates. The classmate was noisy, boisterous and a complete prankster. He didn't care much for the rules - not enough to get into detention often or lose many house points, but enough to annoy the teachers. He seemed more like the type to belong in Gryffindor, but clearly, the Sorting Hat had thought differently.

Scorpius quickly learned the other - Albus Potter, better known as Al - spent the majority of his time with his cousin, a Ravenclaw named Rose. Scorpius didn’t have any close friends. All he had were the other Slytherins in his year, Al included, but Scorpius’ really just wanted to be Al’s best friend. Who seemed to already have a best friend in Rose.

After a few years, Scorpius told himself that he'd become Al's friend, and the perfect opportunity struck when they were on the Hogwarts Express going to the school in fifth year.

The Malfoy was looking for an empty compartment, or one that was at least mostly empty. He found one, though Al and Rose were inside it.

"Hello," Scorpius interrupted the two's conversation, "All the other compartments are full; can I join you?"

Rose nodded eagerly and moved over from her spot in the middle of the bench. "There's always room for one of Al's fellow Slytherins!"

Across from her, Al laughed. "Take a seat, Scorpius."

And so he did. Over the course of the next few hours, Scorpius talked to the other two, enjoying their banter. Mostly, though, the fifteen year old was happy to be there.

Once they'd arrived at Hogwarts, Al made sure to steer Scorpius into the place to his right, justifying the action with, "can't let my new friend get away from me so quickly, can I?"

Scorpius smiled and gratefully took a seat next to the Potter. Soon after, the first years were being sorted, and Al was his normal loud self. He welcomed the first years warmly enough, but after they'd taken their seats, he quickly turned to Scorpius and began pestering him. "So, Scor, ever think about trying out for the quidditch team?" Al was the head of the house team, as well as seeker.

Scorpius shook his head. "It seems very interesting, but the only position I'd want to play is already filled by a really great player."

Al grinned, "Oh, and who's that?"

"He's got black hair and green eyes," Scorpius said, waiting for Al to think it through. When nothing but confusion showed on Al's face, Scorpius continued. "He plays seeker..."

A look of realization. "Don't go thinking you can steal my position, Malfoy!" he jokingly yelled at the blonde.

Scorpius laughed. "Wouldn't dream of it, Potter."

The feast continued, the two making light banter with one another. After comparing schedules, they discovered they shared most of their classes together - Al had divination while Scorpius was to be in Arithmancy ("I'm rubbish at math!" Al had defended himself, "And besides, divination is so easy, I practically spend the class asleep.").

They also shared Defense against the Dark Arts and Herbology with the Ravenclaws, so they'd be seeing Rose then.

The first term flew by, and by the end of it, Scorpius could firmly say he was Al's friend.

"I can't wait until Easter holiday," Al groaned as he flopped down into one of the common room chairs.

Without looking up from the essay he was writing, Scorpius responded, "And why's that?"

"I haven't been able to see Mum and Dad, or any of my aunts and uncles in so long," Al said tiredly.

Scorpius looked up, rolling his eyes at Albus. "You could have gone home at Christmas, you know."

"And left my best friend behind? What do you take me for, a heathen?" Al said indignantly.

Scorpius' eyes widened slightly at the "best friend" remark, but didn't comment on that specifically, "I would have been fine, Al. It was my choice to stay here rather than go home anyway."

Al looked over at Scorpius. "I know, Scor, but I'd feel bad the entire time I was gone, you know that."

Scorpius rolled his eyes again. "I know, but you're going home over Easter, no questions asked."

Al nodded then asked, "What about you, why don't you go home?"

Scorpius shrugged. "I prefer it here. I don't hate my parents or anything, but most of the time, they're too busy to really spend much time with me."

Al nodded then looked away again. The room was silent aside from the girls that were just coming down from their own dorm. Scorpius picked his quill back up and went back to writing.

A few days later, Al asked Scorpius, "Why don't you come to my house over Easter?"

Surprised, Scorpius took a few seconds to reply. "I can't, I'd feel like I was imposing."

Al sighed, exasperated. "I know James is gonna have at least one of his friends over, plus Lily will probably invite one of hers, so you really wouldn't be," he insisted, "Plus Rose'll be there most days."

Scorpius thought before sighing and nodding. "I'll owl my dad tonight to see if it's okay."

Al nodded excitedly before running off, probably to meet Rose somewhere.

Draco Malfoy was okay with his son spending the holidays with a friend (Scorpius had specifically not said it was the Potters, knowing the rivalry between the two families), and Harry Potter was very enthusiastic in his approval. So when the time came, the boys packed their trunks and went down to the train together.

They were joined in their compartment by Rose and her younger brother, a Hufflepuff by the name of Hugo. Hugo seemed intimidated by Scorpius at first, but soon relaxed after an hour of seeing his sister and cousin comfortable in his presence.

Despite not quite knowing exactly how many kids he would be hosting as James, Lily, and Al almost never specified who they'd be bringing, Harry and Ginny were very welcoming. James had brought two of his classmates along, like Al had guessed, and Lily had brought one of hers.

It was hard to get everyone to fit in the cars (both Harry and Ginny had driven), even with one van and one sedan. Eventually everyone got settled, and soon they were on their way to the Potter’s house.

Once at the house, Ginny and Harry bustled around the kitchen, making sure there would be enough food for dinner while quietly bickering in joking tones. Al said they did that a lot, the whole arguing thing, although it was never serious.

"C'mon, I'll show you my room," Al said after a short time, already starting up the stairs. Scorpius nodded and trailed after him.

"Here we are!" Al announced, pushing open a door covered in posters of a muggle sports team. At Scorpius' confused look, Albus explained that they were England's football team and that despite being a pureblood, Scorpius should know that because what resident of England doesn't know that, dammit.

Scorpius just nodded in understanding (he didn't understand, though).

"Just set your stuff down over there," Al made a vague gesture to the corner of the room as he sat down on his bed, "We'll get out one of the air mattresses or something for you later."

Scorpius nodded, sitting down beside Albus. "Al, why did you invite me here?"

Al looked at Scorpius like he was insane. "I told you, you're my best mate. I can't just let you stay at Hogwarts."

Scorpius opened his mouth to reply, but Ginny’s voice announcing dinner was ready interrupted him.

After the holidays and they had arrived back at Hogwarts, Scorpius noticed something had changed in Al. He was quieter and didn't talk to as many girls - it wasn't that he dated a lot, but he didn't exactly ever refrain from flirting. Scorpius brushed it off as homesickness.

After a month of it continuing without getting better (it was actually getting worse, if Scorpius was being honest with himself), he finally confronted Al about.

Never one to ever waste breath, Scorpius jumped right into it. "Al, what's going on?"

The other boy looked confused. "What do you mean, Scor, ‘what's going on?’ We're in Transfiguration, learning a new spell, if you've bumped your head and are confused about where you are." Al smiled slightly.

Scorpius huffed impatiently. "Why've you been so quiet since Easter?"

Al froze for a second before shrugging. "Nothing," he said nonchalantly.

The blonde raised an eyebrow, disbelieving.

"Really, it's nothing! Just a bit of homesickness is all. Just ask Rosie if don't believe me."

Scorpius nodded, still not believing Albus.

After classes were over for the day, Scorpius went to the library, where it was more than likely Rose would be lurking. Easily spotting her between the stacks, Scorpius made his way over.

"Rose, I think something's wrong with Al," Scorpius said as way of greeting.

She nodded, making a humming noise. Holding up a finger in a “hold on sign,” she wrote a few more lines before looking up at him.

"Hello, Scorpius!" she said, "What did you say?"

"I think something's wrong with Al."

Rose shrugged, setting her quill down. "Well, you're not wrong. There are many things wrong with my dear cousin. He snores, never says please, always leaves bags of chips opened so they get stale," she began listing things off before Scorpius interrupted.

"No, I mean he's quiet, Rosie, too quiet for him."

She laughed. "I hadn't noticed. He's seemed his normal, annoying self to me."

Scorpius sat back in his chair. "Are you sure? Nothing's wrong?"

She nodded. "Well, aside from one thing, but I have been sworn never to tell you or else he'll get Lily to curse me, and I'd rather not have that happen again."

Brushing aside the fact that Lily had apparently once hexed his second best friend, Scorpius opted for the reply of, "Rose, what is it?"

She mimed locking her lips and throwing the key away - a very muggle motion that confused Scorpius. "I shan't tell, my friend." And with that, she snapped her book shut, rolled her parchment up, and strode out of the library, presumably back to the Ravenclaw common room.

By the end of the week, Albus was mostly back to normal. Scorpius supposed that that meant Rose had told Al about their little talk. Scorpius brushed it off, but the fact that Al apparently had a secret he couldn't even tell Scorpius nagged at him, creating a spot for itself in the back of his mind. It was constantly there, telling Scorpius that his best friend didn't trust him.

Scorpius still hadn't found out the secret when sixth year started, though it had fallen to the back of his mind, only occasionally something he dwelled on. Over the summer, Al and Scorpius had both paid visits to each other's houses (much to the dismay of Lucius, who didn't much like the thought of his grandson associating himself with a Potter - Draco was more understanding, though it seemed to irk him as well).

The train ride to Hogwarts began the same way as the one the previous year; Scorpius found himself looking for an empty compartment and came across Rose and Al.

Rather than Rose moving over this time, though, it was Al who made the space for Scorpius.

"I wondered when you'd be getting here, Scor," Rose greeted him.

Al merely murmured a quiet greeting before turning back to the book he had in his hands. (Rose later explained to Scorpius that it was the newest book in a muggle series and interrupting Al while he was reading it might be the last thing he'd do. Scorpius wisely didn't approach that subject.)

Scorpius desperately wanted to ask Rose what Al's secret was, but with Al in the compartment, that wouldn't be easy. Instead, they settled on playing card games with the deck Rose had with her. One game of War, two games of Crazy Eights, one game of Bullshit, and one game of Slap Jack that ended with half the deck on the floor later, they arrived at Hogwarts.

The Welcoming Feast was familiar, and Scorpius cheered alongside his housemates every time someone was sorted into Slytherin. After that, it was time to head to the dorms.

The first few weeks passed with the homework coming fast and plentiful. But luckily, Scorpius had more free periods than years past, and he planned to put them to good use. He'd dropped Arithmancy, as well as Care of Magical Creatures and Muggle Studies. Which left him with a double free period before lunch, and one at the end of the day.

Al, however, had only dropped Muggle Studies, which meant that he only had the free period before lunch. Scorpius had patted the black haired boy's shoulder upon hearing that, a clearly noticeable fake look of sympathy on his face. "There, there, Al, you'll just have to work extra hard," Scorpius had said to Al's distraught expression.

"Oh, bugger off, Malfoy," Al retorted, playfully shoving at him.

Scorpius rolled his eyes but shook his head. "Uh uh. We've got potions together right now. And after, Transfiguration. Then I'll ‘bugger off’ to my double free period," Scorpius taunted him.

Al gave the taller boy the stink eye before starting to grumble about double free periods and how it wasn't fair that there were so many prerequisites to become an auror and what did Scorpius want to do with his life anyway.

At the last one, Scorpius commented, "I want to be a healer, you know that."

"Yeah, I know that! But why don't you have to take as many classes as I do, it's not fair," Albus whined.

"Don't whine, it's unbecoming of you," Scorpius scolded him.

Al glared at him.

Scorpius finally had a chance to talk to Rose later that day - it turned out they had the same free period at the end of the day, and had both planned to spend it in the library.

Scorpius sat down in a chair at the same table as Rose. She glanced up at him briefly. "Hey, Scor."

"Hi, Rose," he greeted back. "You ready to tell me Al's secret yet?" he asked, pulling one of his books from his bags.

Rose looked confused. Scorpius sighed. "Last year, after Easter, you mentioned Al had a secret that you couldn't tell me..." he trailed off.

She snapped her fingers in realization, earning a gentle shushing from the librarian. "Ah, that! Nope, still forbidden to tell."

Scorpius groaned. "C'mon, Rose. I swear I won't tell Al you told me."

She shook her head.

"It's nothing bad, right?" A nod. "So why can't you tell me?" An exasperated sigh. "Is it about me?" Another nod. "It's not bad and it's about me... Doesn't that make it my business, too?" A shake of the head. "Dammit, Rose, speak."

"Look, I can't tell you, alright? It's something private that Al needs to figure out on his own. He only told me because I kind of figured it out on my own and confronted him about it." The redhead smiled sheepishly.

Scorpius was more confused than ever, and it apparently showed on his face. Rose patted his hand comfortingly. "Don't think too hard about it, alright? You've nothing to be afraid of."

He nodded, distracted, and Rose went back to her textbook. Scorpius tried to figure out what Rose could have possibly meant - after all, she'd acted like she'd practically spelled it out for him.

After weeks of careful consideration, a dawning came upon him. And with Halloween coming up in a week, and subsequently a Hogsmeade trip, Scorpius knew exactly what to do. He just didn't know how.

Best get the one responsible for all this involved, he mused to himself.

Rose and Scorpius had taken to studying together during that last free period of the day, and this day was to be no different. Though, Scorpius was looking for a little advice on the side.

And even if he didn't quite fully return what he thought Al was feeling, that wasn't to say he never would. Scorpius had never really felt that way towards anyone, but he figured maybe Al would change that.

"Rose, how does one..." he trailed, looked for a proper way to phrase it, "ask someone out on a date?"

Rose looked at him, confused and surprised. "Why? You like someone?"

He shook his head quickly. "Hypothetically, if I wanted to go out with someone, how should I ask them?"

"Just ask them, silly! No point skirting around the topic - just get straight to the point." She let out a quiet laugh.

He nodded. "Right." And he went back to writing a particularly annoying essay for Charms.

The next day, Scorpius went up to Al, and as bluntly as one could be, stated, "I'd like to go to Hogsmeade with you."

Al looked bewildered. "That was the plan - you, me, and Rosie. In Hogsmeade. Together."

Scorpius shook his head. "Not like that. I meant together-together."

"As in a date?" he asked hesitantly, eyes widening.

Scorpius nodded.

"Wow, uhm, let me think about that," Al responded nervously. "C- can I let you know tomorrow?"

Scorpius nodded, then turned and swiftly walked away.

Later on that day, he met Rose in the library, where she swatted him on the arm with a copy of that day's Daily Prophet. "You git!" she whisper-yelled, "Why'd you ask Al out!"

Scorpius sat down, rolling his eyes. "I thought about what you'd said about Al's secret and the only logical explanation was that he liked me."

Rose pinched the bridge of her nose. "Bloody hell. You asked him out because you think he might like you?"

Scorpius nodded.

"And if you turn out to be right, what then? Take him out then make fun of him, taunt him in front of the other Slytherin gits?" she snapped.

"You seem to forget Al is a Slytherin as well. Also, maybe I'm doing this because I like him too!"

"You'd better be serious, or I'm kicking your arse into next year," Rose said angrily, her voice raising, though she seemed to be trying to make sure not to catch the attention of the librarian.

"Oh, and thanks for just confirming my suspicions about Al's crush," he smiled cheekily.

Rose sighed, defeated, and laid her head on the book in front of her. "Oh, bloody hell," she muttered.

The next day found Al accepting Scorpius' offer, though he was very much so nervous about it, or at least seemed to be. The following week was boring and dull. Al seemed a bit uncomfortable around Scorpius, but as the other had asked him out without any warning, that was kind of explainable.

Finally the day of the trip came. Rose was walking to Hogsmeade with the two boys and spending an hour or two with them before spending the rest of the time with some of her Ravenclaw friends, as well as her brother.

Zonko's was as colorful as ever, Honeydukes smelled just as sweet as usual, and The Three Broomsticks was as lively as it had ever been.

Soon enough, though, Rose was bidding the boys farewell, and then they were on their own.

The first minute or two was awkward silence, then Scorpius said, "I've never been on a date before. Is there some sort of criteria for what we're supposed to do?"

Albus laughed. "No, of course not. We're supposed to spend time together, get to know each other - which is kind of pointless considering we're already best friends," he continued before breaking off and saying, "Oh bloody hell, I'm blabbering." He ducked his head in shame.

It was Scorpius' turn to laugh. "C'mon, Al, let's go do some of that ‘spending time together’ stuff." And so they did.

At the end of the day, they returned to Hogwarts, and on the walk back, Al grabbed Scorpius hand, who smiled at the motion but didn't comment.

The next month and a half passed quickly, and then it was Christmas holiday.

"I don't see why we can't just spend the holiday at my house," Al feebly argued.

Scorpius glared at him before retorting, "I haven't spent any of my Christmases since coming to Hogwarts at home. You're welcome to go to your own home, but I'm going to mine."

Al sighed, flopping back on his bed. "Fine, I'll come with you to your stupid manor on your stupid estate where you'll get angry at your grandfather, which will make your father try to play mediator, then your mother will jump in, and then nobody will be happy."

Scorpius snorted in laughter. "Yes, that's exactly how it will go down. Only this time, I'll have you there to make it better." He pressed a quick kiss to his boyfriend's cheek. "Now let's go to breakfast."

"Yeah, yeah," Al grumbled standing again. He slipped his hand into the taller boy's, and then they were off.

The Christmas holiday came, and Al couldn't have been more right. Draco and Astoria had already known about the change in Scorpius and Al's relationship, and while they didn't fully accept it - not that Scorpius was with another boy; it was more of that said boy was a Potter - they were understanding about it.

And then Lucius had to go and ruin everything, from his homophobic preaching to his mutterings about half-bloods being as dirty as mudbloods to his ranting that Potters were the worst of them all.

After Draco had finally gotten his father to shut up and go to bed, Scorpius politely asked his father to apparate him and Al to the Potters. Draco nodded in understanding, and even if he did seem a bit upset that his son would, once again, not be spending Christmas at home.

While Al was inside explaining things to his parents, Scorpius hugged Draco, and whispered, "Thanks, Dad." Then Al was back and Draco was apparating back to the Malfoy Manor.

The next day, Christmas Eve, was quiet. Lily was spending the holiday at a friend's, and James had moved out into his own flat. It was only Harry, Ginny, Al, and Scorpius in the house.

Harry and Ginny both knew Scorpius and Al were now dating as well, and they were more than accepting of it. Scorpius was glad for the change in company.

That evening, Ron and Hermione came over, along with Rose and Hugo. The two children made a beeline for the couch where Scorpius and Al were sitting, while Ron and Hermione went to the kitchen.

"Move over, Malfoy," Rose ordered while Hugo sat down on the other side of Al, who promptly ruffled his younger cousin's hair.

"Make me, Weasley," Scorpius resisted. Upon not moving, Rose just sat on him, sprawling back against him.

"Oy, get off my boyfriend," Al protested.

Rose shook her head while Hugo looked bewildered. "You have a boyfriend?"

Al nodded proudly.

"Who?" the youngest child asked.

Scorpius raised his hand in answer.

Hugo narrowed his eyes, considering, then nodded. "Okay."

Al looked at Rose. "Does this mean Uncle Ron and Aunt 'Mione don't know about us either?"

Rose nodded slowly, "Pretty sure, yep. Damn. I knew I was forgetting to tell them something."

"Rose, get off my boyfriend, he's got to meet the rest of the family," Al ordered as he stood up, and Rose quickly moved to the vacant spot. Scorpius quickly stood after him and took the subconsciously offered hand.

"Hey, Aunt 'Mione, Uncle Ron," Al started as he pushed open the door to the kitchen. Hermione saw the boys' linked hands but didn't say anything. "We've got something to tell you."

Ron nudged Hermione. "Ten pounds says the Malfoy is here to pass on a message from his father about how much he hates us."

Hermione lightly slapped her husband on the arm. "Ronald Weasley, how dare you! Draco hasn't hated us for a long time, and you know it."

Ron rolled his eyes. "You keep telling yourself that, dear."

Hermione sighed exasperatedly before looking at Al expectantly. Harry and Ginny knew what was coming, and though they already knew, listened in anticipation.

"Me and Scor here... We're dating," Al finished weakly. He wasn't afraid of Hermione's reaction, but after what Ron had said, he wasn't sure what to expect from him.

Hermione shrugged. "I assume both your parents know and are okay with this?"

Al and Scorpius both nodded.

"Then I don't see why my opinion matters much, though it is nice of you to tell us rather than us finding out some other way."

Ron's reaction was different. "You're what?" he asked, a hint of anger to his voice.

"Dating, Uncle Ron," Al said again, "You know, when two people like each other, one asks the other out, and they go on these things called dates - I'm sure you're familiar with the term?"

"Just making sure I heard you right." A pause. "You're dating a Malfoy?!"

Hermione sighed from her spot beside her husband. "Ron, dear, it's not that bad."

"Not that bad? That boy's father tried to kill us!" A soft sigh from both Hermione and Scorpius.

"Ron, think about this for a second. From what Scorpius just said Draco knows and is okay with this. I think he'd be more likely to resist than anyone from the side of the family."

Ron grumbled about it for a few short seconds before falling silent.

Rose came in then. "Well, now that the heart-to-heart's out of the way, can we have some food, please?"

"Right," said Harry from his corner, "food. Care to lend a hand, Ron?" Ron let his head fall to the countertop with an audible thud.

After the holidays, when everyone was back at Hogwarts, Al and Scorpius began to further their relationship. Nothing beyond kissing, but there was a lot more of that than before. With classes as well, time flew and then it was the Easter holidays. None of the Potter or Weasley kids were leaving for them, not unless they were staying with a friend - all their parents were going on a vacation to Germany together.

Scorpius didn't want a repeat of the last trip to Malfoy Manor, and he didn't want to leave Albus behind, so he elected to stay at the school as well.

As those two were the only ones in Slytherin left at Hogwarts over the holiday, more often than not, they stayed in rather than venturing out to visit family or friends other than at mealtimes.

When the other students came back, that precious alone time was gone - and along with anytime to be spent together at all. Exams were coming, and while they weren't the OWLs or NEWTs, both Al and Scorpius wanted to do well. Any and all spare time went into studying. They only really stopped to talk during meals and right before bed.

Once all of the exams were over and they were free for the summer, though, Scorpius was planning on spending a month at the Potters. Draco and Harry had both already agreed to it, so unless something suddenly arose, that would be happening.

And after that month at the Potters, Al would be spending the rest of the vacation at Malfoy Manor, Lucius be damned.

Nothing did arise, thankfully, and soon enough, Scorpius was at the Potters, waiting for Al to get out the air mattress.

"Why don't we just sleep in the same bed?" Scorpius asked, "It's not like yours is too small." Al's bed, being a double bed, was not in fact too small for both of them.

Al flushed at the question. "If you want to, we can."

Noting the flush, Scorpius said, "Nothing has to happen. I just happen to think an actual bed would be more comfortable than that." He waved his hand at the air mattress dismissively.

Al nodded. "Alright then. Guess you're sleeping with me." He waggled his eyebrows suggestively. Scorpius lightly shoved at his boyfriend.

No one else in the house knew of their new sleeping arrangement; Scorpius was often the first one up in the household, and Al was usually quick to follow.

One morning, though, Lily was the first one up, and never one to sit quietly, she decided barging into her brother's room at six in the morning was a great idea. "Oh my god!" the girl practically shouted at the seeing her brother and his boyfriend curled up together.

Scorpius cracked one eye open and stared at her. "Will you be quiet, we're trying to sleep."

Incoherent mumbling from beside him was what Lily assumed to be agreement from Al.

"But you - bed - air mattress - when?" Lily spluttered.

"First day of vacation and because that air mattress is not at all comfortable," Scorpius answered.

Al's head poked up from where he was nestled underneath the blankets. "Will you two be quiet. Some of us are trying to sleep." He pulled Scorpius closer to him, nestling his head against the other's chest.

Lily raised her eyebrows before leaving.

Scorpius kissed the top of Al's head and then fell back asleep himself.

When they finally woke up for real a few hours later, they emerged and went down stairs, hoping to avoid Lily. However, she was lying in wait in the kitchen.

"So, boys, what was that this morning?" she asked with a smile.

Al groaned as he sat down at the table, not even bothering to get a bowl or plate or anything. "Nothing, Lily, we were just sleeping."

Scorpius set down two bowls, a box of cereal, and a carton of milk on the table. Al reached for the cereal.

"Together. In the same bed," Lily pressed.

Al poured some of the cereal into his bowl. "Scor doesn't like the air mattress."

"Uh huh."

"Nothing happened, Lily, let it go."

"I'm telling Rose about this."

"She already knows," Scorpius chose that moment to jump into the conversation.

Al turned to him. "Since when does she know?"

Scorpius waved his hand dismissively. "She'd heard me complaining about the air mattress the last time both of us were here, so in her last letter, she asked me how I was sleeping. I told her that your bed was very comfortable, actually, and that I was fine."

Al shrugged. "Alright."

Lily looked between the two of them before announcing, "You're both mental," and walking out.

James stopped by later that week, but his new job as a journalist for the Daily Prophet was very demanding and he couldn't stay long. But he did find out about Scorpius and Al, and took it upon himself to give Scorpius the "you hurt him, I hurt you" speech. He'd doubted Harry had given it to him.

The day after, most of Al's cousins, aunts, and uncles showed up, along with a few friends that were close enough to be considered family.

One such person was Teddy Lupin. Scorpius had never met the man before, only heard of him, but everything they'd said was true. He took after his mother, using his gift to change his appearance at will to the amusement of everyone. He was funny and friendly, and Scorpius quickly found out that the man really was as animated as everyone said he was.

After the family had cleared out, and it was just the Potters (and Scorpius) again, the house felt too quiet and calm. As if waiting for something to go wrong.

But, again, nothing went wrong.

At least not until they showed up at the Malfoy's in a couple weeks time. The shit really hit the fan at that point, but honestly? Scorpius and Al were expecting it to.

Lucius was his normal bigoted self, and that didn't help things.

But, no, that's not where things went wrong. Things went wrong when the sleeping arrangements were to be made. Scorpius' bed was bigger than Al's, so it made sense that they'd share again, even if the Malfoy's did have guest bedrooms. What they didn't count for, however, was the fact that the Malfoy's were notoriously early risers, and whoever woke up first, tended to wake the others.

Which, as Lucius was often the first to rise, did not end well.

The second he found the two boys asleep in the same bed, he threw a fit. A Molly-Weasley-just-found-three-of-her-sons-missing-with-a-car-gone-and-no-note style fit. Albeit, he was angry for a much different reason than Molly had been.

"Scorpius! What are you doing in bed with that- that half-blood?" the elderly man spat at his grandson, storming over to the side of the bed.

Scorpius looked up blearily, only half catching his grandfather's words. "What?" he asked, rubbing sleep from his eyes.

A flash of anger in Lucius' blue eyes. "You're sleeping with the Potter!" he shouted.

From beside Scorpius, Al looked up at Lucius. "No disrespect, Mr Malfoy, but will you please bugger off? We're trying to sleep," Al said.

Lucius switched his manic look over to Al. "Don't speak to me like that, Potter," he hissed.

A loud bang of a door slamming open sounded, and then Draco and Astoria appeared in the doorway. "What happened?" Astoria asked, slightly out of breath.

Lucius looked over at her, his eyes flashing in anger. "Your son is sleeping with this half-breed!" he hissed.

Astoria sighed and then turned to leave, whispering to Draco, "You deal with your father. I can't this early."

Draco nodded almost imperceptibly at his wife's words before taking a step forward. By now, Scorpius and Al had both taken full understanding of the situation, their sleep addled minds coming to awareness, and they'd backed themselves to the side of the bed away from Lucius.

"Father, let's calm down and discuss this. I don't like them sleeping together anymore than you do," Draco shot a disapproving look at Scorpius who'd let out a muffled groan at his father's words, "but yelling like this will get you nowhere."

Lucius angrily huffed, looking at his son with a manic look. "Draco, there's nothing to be calm about. Scorpius is in bed with that half-breed!"

Draco sighed again before speaking. "Let's talk about this in the hall."

Lucius nodded shortly and swept past him, out of the room. Draco looked at his son and said quietly, "Scorpius, Albus, I don't care how it was at the Potter's, but you can't sleep together here."

Scorpius nodded shakily while Albus tried to protest that they were merely sleeping in the same bed, nothing had actually happened. Draco cut him off with a stern glance before going into the hall, shutting the door behind him.

Soon afterward, the raised voices of Lucius and Draco arguing could be heard.

"Come on, we'd best get dressed," Scorpius said after a few minutes. He stood, stretching, and turned to face his boyfriend. Albus nodded and climbed out after him, heading for his trunk.

By the time they were both dressed and ready, the arguing outside had stopped. Scorpius poked his head out into the hallway, looking around for any sign of his family. Seeing no one, he reached his hand back for Al's and then led him out.

The house elves had already prepared breakfast, and Draco and Astoria were sitting at the dining table about to begin eating when Scorpius and Albus walked in. Lucius wasn't there, presumably in the library.

Draco glanced over when the pair walked in, but his attention quickly switched back to his meal. "Scorpius, what were you doing?" he asked in a neutral tone, not looking up from his food.

Scorpius glanced at Albus before speaking. "I was sleeping with Al - but it wasn't like that. Same bed, nothing happened."

Draco nodded, looking over again. He looked thoughtful, and didn't say anything for a few moments. "I believe you. But I also can't let you do that again. Separate beds from now on, or else he can't stay over."

Scorpius nodded. "Yes, Father."

Astoria smiled. "Good, now you boys sit down. You need to eat your breakfast."

Scorpius and Al graciously sat down and began loading their plate with food.

When they received their schedules a month later, it was to the delight that they had the same schedule aside from Al still continuing with Divination which meant that Scorpius still had that block as a free period. (Scorpius had questioned why Al continued to take the class; Al had angrily retorted that while Professor Trelawney was a bit nutty, the class itself was interesting.) Rose had owled them later that week, and it turned out they had Potions and Defense Against the Dark Outs together with her as well.

Just a few short weeks after that, and they were on their way to start their final year at Hogwarts.

"Do you think anything's going to change after this year?" Scorpius had asked from where he was sitting with his head resting on Al's lap; Al was absentmindedly running his hand through the blond locks. Rose was sitting across from them, a pile of empty candy boxes from the trolley next to her.

Neither Al nor Rose answered him for a while. "What do you mean?" Rose finally asked.

"We're going to be starting our careers once we finish here. Are we still going to stay in contact, stay friends after this?" Scorpius elaborated.

Al looked down at Scorpius. "Well, I certainly hope to stay in contact with you," he leered. Rose threw one of the empty Chocolate Frog boxes at him.

"Al, I'm being serious," Scorpius said, sitting up, "You and I are dating, so of course we're going to keep in touch, and you and Rose are cousins so you'll stay in touch, but what about Rose and I? She's my best friend." Albus made an indignant noise at the best friend comment. "Aside from you, of course," Scorpius amended his statement.

Rose shrugged. "I don't see what you're worried about. We're all going to stay friends, we'll just have to deal with jobs instead of school. And I'll have to get serious about finding a boyfriend," Rose said the last part under her breath.

Al agreed, "I agree with Rosie. Nothing'll change."

Scorpius nodded, distracted. Despite what they said, he was positive things would not be staying the same.

Once the classes started, it was obvious that there would be no time for anything personal. Homework was plentiful, and it was hard. Teachers demanded that the students study at least one hour per day, as there would be NEWTs that year. Albus was the busiest out of the trio of friends, as he not only didn't have that one free period, but he also had quidditch practice to schedule.

None of them went on the Halloween Hogsmeade trip, instead deciding to use the time to get ahead on studying. Soon enough, it was Christmas time. Scorpius and Al had already made plans to spend the time at Al's, and Rose would be accompanying them; though she would be sleeping in James' old room, which had been converted into a guest bedroom.

The three of them spent most of their time studying together - or at least trying to. More often than not, they got distracted and spent their time outside in the snow.

On Christmas Eve, Al and Scorpius were lying in bed together. Scorpius was about to fall asleep when he heard Al's voice cut through the silence.

"You're asleep already, I know it, but I need to say this." A shaky intake of breath. "Scorpius, I love you and I have since the train ride in fifth year." Scorpius felt Al shift beside him then the ghost of lips being pressed to his own.

In shock, Scorpius kept his eyes shut, and made sure his breathing was steady. Al hadn't meant for him to hear that, no matter the fact that they were dating now. Scorpius returned the feelings, definitely felt the attraction, but he wasn't sure if he'd be able to say those words back just yet. So pretending to be asleep was his only option for the time being.

Scorpius felt Al shift again, curling into his side and soon felt actual sleep wash over him.

The next morning, Rose was the one to wake the boys. "Aww, don't you two look just adorable together," she said, voice dripping with sarcasm.

Scorpius didn't move aside from tightening his arms around Al, who gave a muffled reply to Rose.

"What was that, Alby, I couldn't hear you?" Rose prodded.

"Fuck off, Rose," Al repeated himself, burrowing into Scorpius.

"Alby, don't be like that. It's Christmas! Spread a little joy."

Al groaned. "I'll spread some joy later. Sleep now."

Rose tsked in response. "Nope, can't let you do that. It's almost noon. Aunt Ginny sent me up to get you. Says it's past time for presents."

Al groaned again, and this time Scorpius laughed at his boyfriend.

After Al and Scorpius were dressed and finally came downstairs, they had to wait for Rose's immediate family to arrive. No matter what she and Ginny had said, leaving Ron, Hermione, and Hugo out of the festivities would not have been smart.

Scorpius received a series of muggle books from Al ("Those are fantastic, you won't regret reading them; they're about this boy from America who's part god, and he has this prophecy about him -" Scorpius tuned Al out pretty quickly after that."), a new Slytherin scarf from Rose (he didn't bother asking how she'd gotten one in the first place), and his parents had sent their usual gift of candy and a card.

James arrived pretty soon after presents, and shot Scorpius a wary look, as if he suspected that Scorpius had broken Al's heart which would be ridiculous. He greeted his family members with hugs and shook Scorpius' hand, giving him a look of warning.

Again, James couldn't stay long as his job was still very demanding, even on Christmas. Plus, he had a girlfriend who he hoped to spend some time with on Christmas.

After that, the kids all headed outside. They ended up having a snowball fight, one in which Lily and Hugo had decided to go up against their older cousins and had decided to enlist Scorpius to help them. In the spirit of the game, he enlightened them.

After his boyfriend hit him several times with the packed snow, Al eventually just flopped down on the snow, calling out a tired, "I give up."

Scorpius knelt down beside him, one of his snowballs in hand. "Is that so, Potter?"

Albus nodded tiredly.

"Well, too bad. The war's still going on, and we're still enemies." Scorpius proceeded to smash his snowball into Al's face.

"Gah, that's cold!" Al spluttered, wiping his face off.

Scorpius smiled unsympathetically. "Come on, get up and help Rose, she may need it right now." That's when a snowball hit Scorpius in the back of the head. He twisted around to get a look and saw Lily and Hugo laughing. "Mutiny," he muttered.

The rest of the snowball fight turned into what was more or less a free for all. Teams were established but then broken minutes later. By the end of it, there was no clear winner, though it was obvious Al had lost. He'd spent most of the game lying on the ground, trying to distract the others.

After the break was over, it was back to studying. Rose and Scorpius threw themselves into it, almost gleefully, while Al tried to hang on. More often than not, the three of them fell asleep in the library where they'd been studying until the librarian kicked them out. After that, Rose went back to her common room to study on her own while Scorpius and Al went back to theirs. Scorpius would often go to bed right away, as he had extra time to study during his extra free period, while Al would stay up. Sometimes, Scorpius would wake up the next morning to find Al not in his bed, and instead down in the common room, asleep on one of his books.

"Al, you can't keep doing this," Scorpius insisted the fourth time Albus had done that.

"S'not like I mean to," he protested with a yawn, "I just really need to study."

Scorpius nodded. "We all do, but falling asleep while studying down there isn't helping."

"I have no other time to study, Scor!"

Scorpius ran a hand across his face. "Al, you need to relax. I know that these exams are really important to you and that you need to do well on them in order to become an auror, but what you're doing is killing yourself slowly."

Al shook his head. "I'm fine, Scor, just let me go to breakfast."

Scorpius sighed, nodding. "Fine. Go to breakfast. But please relax a little. The exams are months away," he pleaded with his boyfriend.

Al nodded. "Fine, if it'll make you happy."

Scorpius nodded. "It will."

It took a few reminders, but eventually Al stopped falling asleep in the common room.

When Easter break came up, it was to the unspoken agreement that the three of them - Rose, Albus, and Scorpius - would be staying at Hogwarts and studying.

Most days, they inhabited the library, but twice Rose was invited down into the Slytherin common room; almost no one else from that house was still there, and those that were didn't care that a Ravenclaw was in their midst.

After break, the teachers were more brutal than before. But eventually, the exams were upon them, and soon after that, they were heading home.

Rose, who wanted to join her uncle Charlie in working with dragons and other magical creatures, was excitedly jabbering about the places she'd be visiting; Charlie had already agreed to take her on as an apprentice. Al and Scorpius both promised to write to her as much as possible (she was leaving less than a week after school was over), but they knew it wouldn't be the same.

Scorpius and Al were planning on taking a year off before pursuing the career of their choice. They both knew they'd passed all their exams, it was just a matter of getting those results officially.

Their predictions on their grades were more than correct, and they spent the next year relaxing. They'd gotten their own flat, a small thing that they were paying for by use of Scorpius' family money.

But eventually, they did have to go and see if they would get apprenticeships in the places of their interest. Al was easily accepted into auror training, and Scorpius was selected to work in the lower maintenance levels at St. Mungo's. Eventually, he'd be able to work in the higher levels, but that would come after he'd gotten used to the job and was able to deal with the harder cases.

The training they were both going through was hard work, though they had each other to come home to. The apprenticeships took a year to complete, but soon Al was a fully fledged auror and Scorpius was a fully fledged healer.

Albus worked with his father on most cases, though the more dangerous ones were passed off to more qualified aurors. But that didn't stop Scorpius from worrying whenever one of those cases showed up.

Eventually, though, there was a case that called for every available auror. It was a wizard making threats against muggleborns, promising to cleanse the wizarding race of their filth. Al thought he was a complete loony, and wouldn't have understood why all the aurors were necessary... except for the fact the fellow had already killed some of the muggleborns and he seemed to be gathering a following of purebloods who agreed with his views.

Every day before Al went to work, the morning looked a little like this: Scorpius would wake first, ever the early riser. He'd get up, prepare breakfast, and then wake Al. They'd eat breakfast together, and before Al would leave, Scorpius would pull him into a tight embrace, whispering, "Stay safe." Al would promise to try his best to, and besides, he's got his own personal healer should anything go wrong. Scorpius would quietly chastise him for saying that before sending him on his way with a barely-there frown.

That day was no different. Al arrived at work, and almost immediately, there was a meeting to discuss what should be done next. It was a gathering of the head auror - one Mr Harry Potter - and anyone he felt could be of use, always Ron and now usually Al as well as a few others.

Trying to figure out the next group of muggleborns the man would hit proved to be hard. There seemed to be no pattern to it; some of the attacks had been on Hogwarts students, others on elderly grandparents, a few on aurors who'd thought themselves to be safe in their own homes, but the worst were when an entire family was killed. And location seemed to be no bother to him; he could apparate or floo himself places.

While they were in the middle of discussing their course of action, someone came into the room. Almost immediately, the aurors fell silent as the man walked over to where Harry and Ron were. He said something to them in a hushed tone, and before he'd finished speaking, Ron had a panic stricken expression.

"He did what to Hermione!?" the ginger bellowed angrily.

The messenger stepped back, holding his hands up in surrender-like way. "She hasn't been hurt, sir, he just attacked her."

"I'll rip his head off," Ron snarled as Harry put a comforting hand on his best friends shoulder.

"She wasn't hurt, Ron. Just go home and see her," Harry murmured to him.

Shortly after Ron left, the meeting fell apart, Harry and Albus wanting to get home to make sure Hermione actually was fine and no one else in the family had been hurt. The other aurors were told to work on the lower priority cases, but keep an eye out for any sign of the mystery muggleborn hating man.

Scorpius, unaware of what had happened, came home to an empty flat, no sign of Al. As the killer hadn't truly been distinguishing between half-bloods and muggleborns, Scorpius feared the worst.

He apparated to the Potter's house, where again, no one was home. Bile rising in his throat, he apparated next to Ron and Hermione's home, where he found Al, along with the other Potters and Weasleys, excluding those still at Hogwarts.

Al quickly filled Scorpius in on how Hermione had been attacked, but was perfectly fine. Rose was there as well, and she quickly made her way over to them.

"I'm really worried he'll try to attack again," Rose said, worrying her bottom lip with her teeth.

Al shook his head. "He probably won't, not for a while. 'Sides, Uncle Ron's not gonna leave her side until this guy's been captured or killed."

The three looked over to where Hermione was pushing her husband away, annoyed at his hovering. Though they couldn't make out any words, it seemed like she was more interesting in carrying on her life like usual rather than stop and let her husband play the big, shiny hero come to rescue her. She’d been able to stop the killer once, if he dared show his face around her again, it probably wouldn’t end well for him.

Scorpius nodded, agreeing with Al. "He won't show his face, Rosie, not if he know what's good for him."

Rose nodded, though she still looked scared. "I'm gonna go owl Lily and Hugo. They probably don't know what's happened yet."

After she left, Scorpius looked at his boyfriend. "I was scared today, too. When I came home and you weren't there... And especially after I went to your parents and they were gone too."

Al drew Scorpius into a tight hug. "Don't be afraid. I'm not leaving you, not without a fight anyway."

Scorpius wrapped his arms around Al in return, clinging tightly to him. "I know, but in your line of work, that's a very real possibility. What if you get cursed or hexed and I never get to see you alive again?"

Al shook his head. "Don't think like that, Scor. Nothing'll happen to me, promise."

Scorpius nodded, but didn't speak further.

Later that evening, when the two had returned to their own home, they lay curled up on the sofa together. Al was watching a muggle television show (Scorpius didn't understand what was going on and asking him to explain it would end disastrously for all parties involved) while Scorpius was finally getting around to reading those books Al had given him for Christmas years ago. They were quite good, if not a bit strange.

Scorpius flipped the page, and after a few seconds, Albus said something. "Scor, what I said early, I meant it. I'm not leaving you without a fight."

Scorpius set his book down before replying. "I know you meant it. You know I feel the same way, right?"

Al nodded then shook his head. "Yes, but. Well. That's not quite what I'm trying to say here." He broke off, trying to collect his thoughts, and Scorpius allowed him that time. "Scorpius," Scorpius felt a pit of dread in his stomach at the use of his full name, "what I'm trying to say is that I won't ever leave you because I love you. If I have any say in the matter, I will not leave you for whatever the reason. Unless you want me to go, then I'll leave as fast as I can. But please don't ev-" he broke off as Scorpius cut him off with deep kiss.

"You talk too much," Scorpius whispered, "And I won't ask you to leave, because I love you too, you idiot."

Al visibly relaxed. "Good. I was getting a bit worried when you weren't saying anything and-" Scorpius kissed him again.

"Less talking, more snogging," Scorpius murmured into Al's ear.

"I agree," Al replied before recapturing Scorpius' lips.

Afterward, when they were both spent and basking in the afterglow, Al murmured, "That wasn't the first time I told you I love you. The first time was-"

"Christmas Eve of our seventh year," Scorpius broke in, "I was awake, I know."

Albus looked at Scorpius, unmasked surprise on his face. "You prat!" he finally shouted, slapping his arm, "You heard that and didn't say anything after!"

Scorpius nodded sheepishly, his blue eyes filled with amusement.

Al huffed in annoyance but didn't say anything else.

"Even if I didn't say anything, I still felt the same way. I do still feel that way," Scorpius whispered after a few moments.

Albus didn't respond.

"I love you, Albus Severus Potter, with your obscenely strange name, and your loudness, and your rudeness," Al made an angry noise but Scorpius talked over it, "and your protectiveness, and your loyalty." He stopped for a second, searching for a word. "I love your vividness. But most of all, Albus Severus Potter, I love you." He turned his head to the man next to him. "So, Al, are you still annoyed that I didn't reply at first?"

A muffled, "you git," was the only response offered.

(The muggleborn killer was captured later that month. Nobody else was killed, though the killer himself came close to it when Ron was the one interviewing him.

Rose went on to discover a new breed of dragon, a small one, no longer than the average man's forearm at it's biggest (at least on record; little was known about them at this point). She hadn't officially named it yet, but she had something in mind.

Hugo and Lily ended up not attending Hogwarts for their seventh year, instead choosing to open a business selling muggle items that would now properly function in the magical world. Said items included, but were not limited to, laptops, televisions, and iPods.

As for Scorpius and Al... well, eventually Al quit his job and became a writer, much to the amusement of James. Scorpius, however, stayed on as a healer. He didn't get many promotions, but he didn't care about that. He cared that he was healing people, no matter how serious the issue was.)

**Author's Note:**

> My [tumblr](http://kaze.cf/).
> 
> -x-  
> If I do ever end up reading the Cursed Child, I'm more likely to actually fully rewrite this so it's actually concurrent with the canon, but in the meantime, this is mostly how it was written back in 2014, when CC was a far off idea.


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